The Dynamo edged Chivas USA 3-2 on Sunday to secure the No. 2 seed in the Western playoffs and a date with the Seattle Sounders in the conference semifinal series.

The Dynamo will open the home-and-home, aggregate-scoring series Thursday at Seattle (9 p.m., ESPN2) and host Nov. 8 (2 p.m., TeleFutura/KHOU 11.2) – Yes. That’s a ridiculous 10 days between games.

UPDATE (10:30 p.m.): I’m told times/TV remain tentative.

In yet another roller coaster of a victory, Andrew Hainault, Dominic Oduro and Abe Thompson scored their first MLS goals of the season to give the Dynamo a 3-0 lead before Chivas USA rallied with goals by Michael Lahoud in the 59th minute and Eduardo Lillingston via penalty kick in the 88th.

Goalkeeper Pat Onstad recorded three huge saves, including two early in the match, to finish with a league-leading 13 wins. With Zach Thornton allowing three goals, Onstad held onto his league record for best goals-against average in a single season, set in 2007.

Brad Davis assisted on the first two goals, bringing his total to 12 for the season, a career best that also tied him for the league lead.

Bad news came to the Dynamo late in the first half when Luis Landin was forced out of the match with tendonitis in his left knee.

The Dynamo will remain in Southern California before traveling to the Seattle-Tacoma area Tuesday.

YOUR TAKE: Share your thoughts on the Dynamo’s performance and first-round pairing. Will the Dynamo eliminate Seattle, a team they were unable to defeat in three tries this season?

7 Responses

Seattle matches up well against our Dynamo. Now is time for our guys to step it up in the play off and show the smurfs from Seattle who has two MLS cups. With a little bit of luck our Dynamo can win the games that matter.